- - ABC-INDEX - -

10/01/2011

Sumo wrestling

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Sumo 相撲 Sumo wrestling / rikishi 力士 wrestler



This is a competitive sport where two wrestlers called rikishi face off in a circular area. The sport is very popular in Japan and is surrounded by ceremony and ritual.

The main introduction is here :
. WKD : Sumo (相撲, sumō) .
and related kigo


. WKD : Ryōgoku Kokugikan 両国国技館 stadium for sumo .

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Spinning tops (koma) of sumo wrestlers are quite popular.





sumoo koma 相撲コマ spinning tops - Sumo
Click on the image for more photos .


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clay dolls and clay bells 相撲人形




- quote by David -
Looks like front cover of Gordan Langs wrestling boys book. Listed in an inventory dated 1688 from Burghley house. Although slightly different pose.
Described as Kakiemon-style group of wrestlers, and dates them between 1670-85.



- source : David on facebook, July 2017 -


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MORE sumo dolls :
source : nihondorei.com

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breakfast egg wrestler



- source : Sandra Sanchez, facebook -

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. akamono, aka mono 赤もの red things (for good luck) .


赤もの 力士 akamono rikishi - about 10 cm high
Fushimi clay doll





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- ABC - List of Sumo Toys from the Prefectures

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. . . . . . . . . . Kagawa
Takamatsu hariko 高松張子
. Sumo Wrestler Kuroiwa 黒岩 お相撲さん


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. . . . . . . . . . Kagoshima 鹿児島県

. 東郷人形 Togo ningyo dolls - Rikishi .
鹿児島県薩摩郡東郷町

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薩摩郡宮之城町(現さつま町)Now Satsuma town
Miyanojo ningyoo 宮之城人形 dolls from Miyanojo


tawara-nori rikishi 俵乗り角力 Sumo wrestler standing on rice bales




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. . . . . . . . . . Kumamoto
. ita sumoo 板相撲 sumo wrestling on a bord .




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. . . . . . . . . . Kyoto


Fushimi ningyoo 伏見人形 Fushimi clay doll
rikishi 力士 Sumo wrestler / about 18 cm high


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. . . . . . . . . . Miyagi
Kesennuma


Hidenoyama ningyoo 秀の山人形
dolls of Hide no Yama, a sumo wrestler

There are some famous sumo wrestlers from Miyagi, one of them was Hideynoyama Raigoroo 秀の山雷五郎 , born in the year 18808. At the age of 16 he went to Edo, first under the name of "Northern Mountain", Kitayama 北山 as Ozeki in 1841. Later in 1845 he changed his hame to Raigoro. At the age of 39 he became the 9th Yokozuna.


. Tanikaze Kajinosuke 谷風梶之助 from Mutsu 陸奥 .
Sumo wrestler, 1750 - 1795.

. Kesennuma ningyoo 気仙沼人形 toys, dolls and kites from Kesennuma .


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. . . . . . . . . . Nagasaki
Hirado town 平戸

konaki sumoo 子泣き相撲 babies crying as sumo contest

In this kind of contest, children under one year are brought to the arena, held by a rikishi, and who starts to cry first will loose the bout. Parents bring their little boys (and now even girls) to wish for a healthy upbringing of their children.


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. . . . . . . . . . Okayama

Tsuyama clay bells 津山土鈴

mouse performing sumo wrestling 鼠の相撲 nezumi no sumoo

Once upon a time . . .
The little mouse of the home of Grandfather and the big mouse in the home of a rich elder in a small village in Okayama performed sumo wrestling.
But the little mouse was weak and could not win.

So Grandfather fed the little mouse delicious fattening rice cakes to make it stronger.
The big mouse got envious and came to feed also, and the gentle Grandfather gave it some light rice cakes too. Later the big mouse brought some money to the home of Grandfather as a thank-you gift for his generosity.
And thus he became rich and happy too.



This is a well-loved legend in Okayama and subject to paintings and children's books.
Here we have the deity Daikoku sama as referee.


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. . . . . . . . . . Osaka



Since the Meiji period, Sumo had become quite popular in Osaka and there dolls soon were a favorite souvenir. They were also made from clay, usually two as a pair fighting a bout. They were about 12 cm high. Two figures were bound together with a string, to be hung from the eaves of stalls during festivals.


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. . . . . . . . . . Saitama
Shrine Kawagoe Hachimangu "Sumo Inari" 川越八幡宮 ”相撲稲荷”


足腰健康御守 : 相撲絵馬

This ema is an amulet for good health, strong legs and a steady heart and mind.

Here is the legend about the fox:

Once upon a time
A fox who lived nearby changed his appearance to a samurai and called himself "Kakibe" 民部. The fox wanted company and went to a nearby temple, invited a young monk to his home and started talking to him all night long most of the evenings.

One day the head priest became suspicious of the young monk and asked him:
"You are always so late at night, where do you go?"
"I visit a nearby Samurai called Kakibe"."
But the priest knew there was no house nearby, so he became suspicious.
"Please ask the samurai to come here and let me give my thanks to him," he suggested one day.

So the next evening the young monk brought Kakibe over to the temple.
The priest was very hospitable and soon he offered sake to Kakibe. The temple was a quiet place in the forest, surrounded by beautiful flowers, and for some reason the talk was about sumo wrestling.

"Maybe we can do some sumo here tonight!"
The young monk and the priest were very eager to test the strength of the samurai Kakibe. And so they did.



When the young monk cleaned the garden next day, he found the hairs of a fox in the place where they had wrestled the night before. He brought them to the old priest.
"Well, just as I thought" he mused.
"But he seems to be a good fellow, so let us go see him tomorrow again."

When they came to the abode of Kakibe, he greeted them with tears:
"Now that we have become good friends, even doing some sumo together, I have to tell you, I have to move away from here and go to a place in Kawagoe, called Bonshinsan 梵心山. To show you my gratitude, I will teach you how to cure a bruise on the body."
. . . and then he left.

Now there is an Inari shrine at Bonshinsan, called
民部稲荷 Kakibe Inari (Sumo Inari 相撲稲荷)
and a votive tablet with the sumo is sold there.



amulet to win in a sports contest スポーツ必勝の勝守

source : kawagoe-hachimangu.net

The main deity at this shrine is
Uga no mitama no kami 倉稲魂神(うがのみたまのかみ)
Uka no Mitama no Mikoto

quote
Ukanomitama
A kami of foodstuffs, thought to refer specifically to the spirit of rice. Kojiki describes the kami as the offspring of Susanoo, while Nihongi states that it was the offspring of the two kami Izanagi and Izanami. The Engishiki's comments on the Ōtono no hogai norito further identify the kami with Toyoukehime.
Ukanomitama is most commonly known as the kami Inari. From the medieval period, the kami was linked to popular combinatory kami such as Ugajin and Uka Benzaiten.
Ukanomitama is enshrined at Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Taisha and other Inari shrines throughout Japan.
source : Kadoya Atsushi. Kokugakuin 2005



source : kurokawamikio



. Hachiman Shrines of Japan - 八幡宮 .

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. . . . . . . . . . Shimane  島根県


haori sumoo 羽織相撲 Sumo wrestler with Haori coat
His name is most probably 鉄ヶ嶽

松江人形 clay doll from Matsue, Shimane

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. . . CLICK here for Photos !

. Reference .



. Inari 稲荷 the Fox Deity Amulets .






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. Amulets for Sports and Martial Arts .


. Regional Folk Toys from Japan .


. Tohoku after the BIG earthquake March 11, 2011

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- #Sumoo #sumo #sumowrestling #wrestling #rikishi -
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5 comments:

Gabi Greve - Edopedia said...

EDO

sumojaya 相撲茶屋 tea shop near a Sumo arena
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Gabi Greve - Kappa said...

- KAPPA 河童 / 合羽 - practising Sumo -

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

sumoo 鬼の相撲 Sumo wrestling of the Demons
Oni no Sumoba 鬼の相撲場 The Devil's Sumo Ring

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https://kappapedia.blogspot.jp/2017/03/demon-legends-shiga.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Sumo wrestler (warrior) Onigadake Tetsuemon 鬼ヶ岳 
稲妻大蔵 Inazuma Taizo
Once upon a long time ago, in the village of 小栗村 Ogurimura in 諌早 Isahaya (長崎県 Nagasaki) there lived a farmer couple who did not have children.
They went to mount 八天嶽 Hattendake to pray. And then a Tengu came at night . . . well well, the woman got pregnant and bore a strong son.
The boy named Taizo became a strong Sumo wrestler. The Tengu trained him the best he could. Taizo won all the bouts in his village.
Taizo eventually went to Edo and nobody could defeat him. Taizo almost won against the strongest Sumo wrestler in Edo, 鬼ヶ岳 Onigadake, but Onigadake had asked him to let him win, so Taizo lost this one bout (and thus his Tengu power) and then all the other bouts after that and went home much ashamed.
Sometimes the villagers could hear a boulder (ゴットン石 Gotton Ishi) rumble at Mount Hattendake, where Taizo was practicing Sumo with al his former might. He could lift the boulder and carry it to the summit in no time.
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https://kappapedia.blogspot.jp/2018/01/onigatake-onitake-mountains.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Fukushima 喜多方市 Kitakata town

- - - Tengu no sumootori ba 天狗の相撲とり場 Tengu and Sumo wrestling
At the place where the Tengu used to practise sumo wrestling, a Tengu once had his long nose come off.
It turned into the flower of 水バショウ Mizubasho, skunk cabbage.
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and more legends
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https://japan-afterthebigearthquake.blogspot.jp/2017/03/tengu-legends-fukushima.html
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